Bhishma Pitamaha, Hitler pop up on 'ailing' Advani blog

Panaji, June 9 (IANS) A reluctant L.K. Advani, who communicated to his partymen through 'sulk' and ill health for the first two days of the BJP conclave, on Sunday may have used metaphors to convey his feelings.

This was on a day after his eminence in the very party he founded came under attack both from fans of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and an emerging pro-Modi faction within the party.

In his blog, he first praises a sandalwood carving of Lord Krishna's Vishwaroop avatar, which he says also has a carving of "Bhishma Pitamah on his bed of arrows, sermonizing to the Pandava".

The allegory is perhaps not too unlike the situation that Advani himself finds in, with an aggressive section within the party simply refusing to heed the ailing leader's caution vis-a-vis Modi.

Advani is reportedly battling a stomach infection.

The 614-word blog then moves on to say that the veteran BJP leader also appreciated Kamal Haasan's movie "Vishwaroopam" (2013), adding he wanted to see the movie ever since it became controversial.

And then he goes ahead to recite an anecdote about the former dictators of Germany and Italy, which he says, he had told Kamal Haasan.

"The story is about a meeting Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini had during the Second World War in which Hitler tells the Italian supremo that the sins committed by the two of them would prove very costly for them after death," Advani writes in his blog.

While Mussolini, according to the BJP leader, tells Hitler that he would seek the Pope's help to obtain a pass to heaven, Hitler suggests that he commend his name to the Pope too.

Advani's narration ends with both the fascist leaders landing in hell and only the Pope reaching heaven.

The reference to two dictators comes a day after his reluctance to pave the way for Modi has resulted in embarrassing protests outside his home in New Delhi by Modi's supporters.

Congress MP from Goa Shantaram Naik even equated Modi to dictators such as "Hitler"and "Pol Pot" a couple of days back.

The BJP has claimed that the Advani's comments on the blog were actually a critique of the Congress.

"Advani has been always fighting the Congress throughout his career, both through politics as well as his writings and speeches," party spokesperson Syed Shahanawaz Hussain said.

But given the current clime in the party, Advani's metaphor-laden blog may brook no stopping to the pro-Modi story the party's leadership is in the process of scripting.